With Love

Kenshin and Kaoru

How could I be so stupid? What was I thinking, I can't possibly do this… I can't do anything.

You're such a stupid idiot, Kaoru. Just… just don't try anymore!

Kenshin sighed, glad it was the end of the day. School had been really busy, and his brain was aching with information he'd probably forget by the end of the week.

Just three more days till Friday…

Outside, it was mostly empty. A few groups of students loitered here and there, enjoying the afternoon sun. Kenshin saw Sanosuke, Megumi, Aoshi, Misao, and Yahiko on the basketball court, where it looked as though Megumi and Sano were having a yelling match over a game of Twenty-one.

"You idiot rooster-head, can't you count?!"

"Yeah, stop yelling at me, foxy, just accept that you LOSE!"

"…" Kenshin shook his head, thinking there would be a better time for him to join his friends, preferably when they weren't in the middle of world war three. Instead, he turned towards the gate, intending to go home and take a nap.

"Kenshin-kun!" A girl's voice caught his ear. Kenshin looked around again and saw that Tomoe-dono was waving at him from the benches by the basketball court. Funny, he hadn't noticed her before… And there was another girl too, sitting hunched over, with a blue ribbon in her hair.

Isn't that Kaoru-dono? Is she all right?...

"Hey, Tomoe-dono."

"Hi, Kenshin. I hope you're doing well."

"Great. What's up?"

"Oh, well, actually, I just wanted to ask you about the homework from Saito-sensei's class. I missed because of a guidance meeting."

"Oh, yeah, I have it. So I guess you're about ready to go to University, ne?" Tomoe smiled demurely, ever reserved and ladylike.

"Yes."

Kenshin dictated their calculus homework to her, and then they both bowed in parting. Kenshin looked back to the bleachers, wondering if Kaoru-dono was still there. She was. And something in her posture told him that she was upset. Didn't the other kids even notice her?

Frustrated, Kenshin made a straight course for her.

"Uh, Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru lurched a little in her seat, surprised that someone dared talk to her when she was like this. She'd yelled at everyone before, and thought the whole school knew by now not to bother her when she was crying. But of course, the one person who wouldn't care…

"Kenshin-san!"

"You can just call me 'Kenshin'," he said, smiling kindly. Kaoru was suddenly conscious of the tear streaks down her face, and turned it away to wipe her eyes. She sensed Kenshin sitting beside her, but didn't bother to look back.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Fine," Kaoru said, too quickly. She wasn't about to explain everything, when it was so pathetic and hopeless. He was better off just leaving her alone. Everyone was…

"Oh. Then, what's with the tears?"

"Nothing! Don't worry about me…"

"…I'm not worrying." Kaoru looked at him in surprise. He was smiling as usual. She blushed, and almost felt like he'd tricked her. It was a well-known fact that Himura Kenshin was clever with words. That's how he'd been elected as President of the Junior Class.

"Everyone knows you can take care of yourself, Kaoru-dono. There's no need to worry. I guess that's why those guys over there aren't trying to comfort you, right?" Kaoru nodded mutely.

"Good. Because, if they were just ignoring you, I'd have to give them a piece of my mind."

"EH?" Kaoru couldn't contain her surprise, and gasped audibly. What was he talking about, why was he being so nice? She and Kenshin were classmates, but hardly knew one another beyond acquaintances. Since when did that make a guy so protective?

"Surprised? Don't be. Just because you can take care of yourself doesn't mean you should all the time. Will you tell me what you're crying about?" Taking a deep, silent breath, Kenshin reached forward to place his hand over Kaoru's. This was a dangerous move, because Kamiya Kaoru was a firecracker, and extremely unpredictable. In the past, most guys who'd tried to touch her in similar ways had been knocked out by a bokken and her yelling.

But this time… She seemed less inclined to violence.

Kaoru blushed, and looked Kenshin in the eyes. He really meant it, he wanted to comfort her. And him being the gentle and kind-hearted person that he was, she guessed that made perfect sense.

Kaoru shifted her position to sit seiza on the bench. Seeing this as a good sign, Kenshin turned towards her too so that they were face to face.

"I… I'm just… having an off day… That's all, Kenshin…" Kaoru looked down and closed her eyes. But not before she saw Kenshin's hand still holding both of her own. Having him care so much about her was, somehow, making her feel even more pathetic. Yet at the same time, she was really glad…

To her surprise, she felt a hand on her cheek. Kenshin was touching her face! But in her emotional state, the only response that came was tears. Kenshin watched fresh tears crawl silently down her cheeks, and knew that this wasn't just an 'off day', and that Kaoru was trying to be strong, for whatever reason. She was seriously hurting about something… His lips set in a grim line, because he didn't like it…

"Well, tomorrow will be better, Kaoru-dono," he said gently, wiping away the tears that fell on his thumb. "You don't have to tell me what's really wrong, unless you want to, but know that…I'm here. And I'll be here."

Thank you…Kenshin, Kaoru thought. Suddenly, everything that had made her feel like such a pathetic hopeless loser today seemed silly. She wondered why she was still crying. So what if she failed a Literature test, lost her cell phone, and had once again made a mess in her cooking class? She was just such a perfectionist sometimes, that even these things made her upset enough to devalue all of her good qualities. Perfectionism ran in her family… She had to be the best in everything, to please her uncle, who'd adopted her after her parents died. He expected it.

But so what? Even near perfect people made mistakes, and she wasn't anywhere near perfect. Maybe Tomoe-san was, but even she couldn't cheer Kaoru up like Kenshin just had.

Kaoru opened her eyes, which were suddenly quite dry, and looked at Kenshin shyly. She removed one of her hands from her lap to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Um, Kenshin?"

"Yeah, Kaoru-dono?"

"…You can just call me 'Kaoru' you know…" Kenshin grinned.

"I just, um… Thank you, Kenshin. You really just put things in perspective for me." And then Kaoru smiled.

Kenshin couldn't help but notice how bright her smile was, despite her being so sad just a moment ago.

"You don't have to thank me, Kaoru…

"Happy to help."